Velocipede-horse



D. H. MARKM ANN AND M. A. DEMMLER.

VELOCIPEDE HORSE.

APPLICATION FILED mun, 1919-.

1,340,282. Patented May 18,1920.

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lfax A17 emmlen D. H. MARKMANN AND M. A. DEMMLER.

VELOCIPEDE HORSE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7,1919.

1,340,282. Patented y 18, 1920.

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I 1741 Al7emmlen UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL H. MARKMANN AND MAX A. DEMMLERI, 013 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

VELOCIPEDEJ-IORSE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 1920.

Application filed June 7, 1919. Serial No. 302,547.

T 0 all whom. it may concern:

Be-it known that we, DANIEL H. MARK- MANN and Max A. DEMMLER, citizensof the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis, State ofMissouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inVelocipede-Horses, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to velocipedes of the type that consist of a toyhorse provided with wheels, and means for causing the legs of the horseto rock or move up and down, thus giving the impression of a runninghorse, when the velocipede is in motion.

One object of our invention is to provide a velocipede horse of thegeneral. type referred to that can be manufactu'red at a low cost and inwhich the means for rocking or moving the legs of the horse is of novelconstruction and so designed that it is practically noiseless when inoperation.

Another object is to provide a velocipede horse of the general characterabove referred to, which is so constructed that the leg operatingmechanism is completely concealed from view. Other objects and desirablefeatures of our invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

Fi ure 1 of the drawings is a side elevationa view of a velocipede horseconstructed in accordance with our invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, partly in vertical section,illustrating the propelling mechanism and the means for actuating thelegs of the horse.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal longitudinal sectional view, taken through thebody of the horse; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view, partly in vertical section,illustrating a slight modification of our invention.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, which illustrate one form ofour invention, A designates the body of the horse, B and C the front andrear legs, respectively, D the neck and E the head. The front and rearlegs are pivotally mounted on the body A and said body is mounted on apedestal F carried by a truck G provided with front and rear wheels Hand I, respectively, the head E of the horse being rigidly connected toa vertically-disposed steering shaft 1 which is connected with the frontwheels H in such a manner that, said front wheels will turn and thuschange the path of travel of the velocipede when the head E of the horseis turned to the right or to the left.

In the form of our invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 the propellingmechanism consists of a drive shaft K rotatably mounted in bearings onthe pedestal or on the truck and provided with a sprocket wheel 2 thatcooperates with a sprocket chain 3 which extends around a sprocket wheel4 rigidly connected to the rear axle 5 to which the rear wheels I aresecured, said drive shaft K being provided with crank arms 5 that carryfoot pedals 5 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The means that we prefer to use for actuating the legs of the horseconsists of a horizontally-disposed shaft L journaled in bearing members6 arranged on the inside of the pedestal F, as shown in Fig. 2, andprovided with cranks 7, as shown in Fig. 3, that are connected by meansof links 8 to rigid arms-9 on the front and rear legs of the horse, oneof the cranks 7 beingconnected by means of two links to the right frontand rear legs and the other crank 7 being connected by means of twolinks to the left front and rear legs. The pedestal F is hollow and thebody A of the horse is also hollow, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to concealthe leg operating mechanism and certain parts of the propellingmechanism from view. Rotary movement is imparted to the shaft L so as tocause the front and rear legs of the horse to rock upwardly anddownwardly, and thus give the impression of a running horse, when thevelocipede is in motion. In the form of our invention shown in Figs. 1to 3 the operating shaft L of the leg actuating mechanism is driven bymeans of a sprocket chain 11 that passes around a sprocket wheel 12 onthe shaft L and around a sprocket wheel 13 on the drive shaft K. Ifdesired, however, the operating shaft L of the leg actuating mechanismcan be operated directly from the sprocket chain of the propellingmechanism. Therefore, in Fig. A of the drawings we have illustrated aslight modification of our invention, wherein the operating shaft of theleg actuating mechanism is provided with a sprocket wheel 12, thatcooperates directly with the sprocket chain 3'" that drives the rearaide to Which the rear Wheels I are connected, said sprocket chainpassing around a sprocket Wheel 2 secured to a drive shaft K that ismounted in bracket 14 on the truck G of the velocipede.

A velocipede horse of the construction above described can bemanufactured at a low cost on account of its simple construction; theleg operating mechanism is practically noiseless when in operation, dueto the fact that the front and rear legs of the horse are directlyconnected by means of links With cranks on an operating shaft that isdriven from the propelling mechanisin, and still another desirablefeature of a velocipede horse of the construction illus trated in Figs.1 to 3 is that the leg operating mechanism is completely concealed fromview and the drive shaft K is arranged in direct vertical alinement withthe rider seated on the saddle M of the horse.

Having thus described. our invention, What We claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A velocipede horse, comprising a truck, a propelling mechanism forsaid truck composed of a drive shaft, a sprocket Wheel on said shaft, asprocket chain that travels over said sprocket Wheel, oscillating legson the body of the horse, an actuating means for said legs consisting ofa rotatable shaft, a sprocket Wheel on said rotatable shaft arranged inengagement With and driven by the sprocket chain of the truck propellingmechanism, and means pivotally connected to said rotatable shaft and tothe front and rear legs of the horse for rocking said legs when thetruck propelling mechanism is in operation.

l 2. ii velocipede horse, comprlsing a body portion, a truck providedWith a pedestal that carries said body portion, a propelling mechanismfor said truck consisting of a sprocket chain and a drive shaft providedwith a sprocket Wheel for imparting movement to said sprocket chain, asecond sprocket wheel mounted on said pedestal above said sprocket chainand arranged in engagement With said sprocket jchain so that it will beactuated directly by said sprocket chain, oscillating legs on the bodyof the horse, and links pivotally connected to the legs of the horse andjoined t said second sprocket Wheel so as to cause the of the horse tooscillate or rock when the propelling mechanism for the truck isoperated.

8. A velocipede horse, comprising a truck, a propelling mechanism forsaid truck composed of a drive shaft, a sprocket wheel on said driveshaft and a sprocket chain actuated by said sprocket Wheel, a hollowpedestal on said truck, a horse body mounted on said pedestal andprovided with oscillating legs, a crank shaft journaled in said pedestaland provided with a second sprocket Wheel arranged above said sprocketchain With its teeth in engagement with said chain so as to be operateddirectl by said chain, and links for connecting said crank shaft to thelegs of the horse so as to cause the legs to rock when the propellingmechanism for the truck is operated.

DANIEL H. MARKMANN; MAX A. DEMMLER.

